These days many people understand that
"Christmas" represents the continuation and remake of the very
ancient observation of the winter solstice, the time of year when
the sun "dies" and is "reborn" or "resurrected," as the daylight
hours decrease to their shortest point and then begin to increase
again.

This important solstice time has been
observed most notably on December 21st or 22nd in the northern
hemisphere.

However, as we can see from the image below, over the past several thousand years in many cultures
globally the winter solstice has been celebrated at various times,
from the middle or end of November to the middle of January.

The symbolism in many of these instances
is clear:

Mourning the decrease and
celebrating the increase of the sun's life-giving light and
heat.

As can also be seen, this solstice
transition was incorporated into mythology in numerous parts of the
world, as the sun god or goddess has been represented frequently as
emerging from a "cave," symbolizing the "underworld" or the place
where the sun appears to go at night and during the winter months.

While it is clear that winter-solstice festivals of light have
extended throughout the month of December, the winter celebration
most people are familiar with is "Christmas," which occurs on
December 25th, the transition from "Christmas Eve" on the 24th.

This date is not a mistake or
calendrical misalignment; indeed, it represents the end of a
three-day period or triduum observed by the ancients as the sun's
"death" and entrance into the underworld, after which "he" is
resurrected or reborn into the world. The ancients noticed that, for
three days during this period, the sun's shadow on the sundial
remained in the same place (at noon); hence, it was believed that
"he" had "died."

Thus, according to this ancient
perception the solstice period - "solstice" meaning "sun stands
still" - begins at midnight on December 21st and ends at midnight on
December 24th.

Winter
solstice and Jesus Christ's 'birth'
While hundreds of millions worldwide continue to be taught
otherwise, it is well known these days in certain quarters,
including among many
Christian fundamentalists, that "Christmas"
does not truly represent the birth of a historical JesusChrist as the "real reason for the season."

It is understood that this "Christian"
celebration in actuality constitutes a remake of the birth of the
sun instead, and it is contended that this "Pagan" winter-solstice
festival was adopted into Christianity only in the third to fourth
centuries after Christ's alleged advent.

However, there are indications
that this solar "birthday" of Jesus was already in the minds of the
creators of Christianity long before that time, including comments
by Church fathers, the biblical and traditional depiction of Christ
as the "sun of righteousness" (below video) and an enigmatic verse in the Gospel
according to John (3:30), put into the mouth of John the Baptist:

"That one it is necessary
to cause to grow," while the second clause reads, "Me moreover it is
decreasing."

Thus, John 3:30 reads literally:

That one it is necessary to grow; me moreover it is decreasing.Young's Literal Translation renders this verse thus:Him it behoveth to increase, and me to become less...

This passage has been interpreted to mean that John the Baptist as a
preacher must become less popular and lose his following, while
Christ must increase in popularity, inheriting John's following.

Such a contention would remain odd, however, in that the speaker is
clearly discussing not followers but a single person or object, with
the "me" without a doubt referring to an individual, not a group or
collective.

The intent is clear that one must increase while the
other must decrease, but,

How could this strange idea apply to a
person?

Was John the Baptist very fat, while
Jesus was too thin?

The solstice periods

Rather than representing the literal remark from a real person, this
enigmatic verse is worded in such as way as to take on the
appearance of mysteries - or, at least, mysterious - language or
allegory.

In consideration of the patent solar imagery sprinkled
throughout the New Testament, along with
the numerous
characteristics Christ shares with solar heroes, such as the virgin
birth, winter-solstice birthday, miracles of walking on water and
turning water into wine, along with the transfiguration on the
mount, resurrection and ascension into heaven, it is reasonable to
suggest that this line represents the changing of the guard from the
summer-to-winter sun (John) to the winter-to-summer sun (Jesus).

This indication of Christ and the Baptist representing
personifications of the winter and summer solstices is validated by
their respective birth or feast days on December 25th and June 24th.

The concept of the six months from
summer to winter and from winter to summer representing important
times can be found in Indian religion/mythology, in the doctrines
and stories involving the uttarayana and dakshināyana,
the six-month winter-summer and summer-winter periods beginning on
the solstices.

The uttarayana represents the "day of
the gods," while dakshināyana symbolizes the "night of the gods."

The uttaryana is said to be the period
when the "gates to heaven" are open, and it is considered auspicious
to die during this time, while the dakshināyana is the time when the
heavenly gates are closed, and it is deemed unlucky to pass at this
time.

The enigmatic verse at John 3:30 about
Christ needing to increase while John must decrease fits
nicely with this Indian notion of the gates to heaven being open
during this auspicious period and the gates closed during the
unlucky time, especially since it is contended that Christ is
the way to heaven. (E.g., John 14:6)

Among other similarities, both Anubis
and John are depicted as headless and as purifying or baptizing the
god or godman who saves the worshipper from death and promises
eternal life, leaving us to wonder whether or not John the Baptist
is an Egyptian myth.

John and Jesus
as remakes of Anubis and Osiris
In the case of Anubis and Osiris, the strange line,

"He must
increase, while I must decrease" would be appropriate, in
consideration of their role as personifications of the summer and
winter sun and solstices.

In this regard and for many other reasons,
the gospel of John, in which this verse may be found (3:30), is
obviously geared toward an Egyptian audience, having also its
apparent provenance in Egypt, where the earliest fragments of the
book were discovered.

Hence, the connection between this biblical
verse and the winter-summer transition becomes even more logical to
assume.

It would therefore seem that the writer(s) of John's gospel
- which does not appear in the literary record until the end of the
second century - were aware already at this time of the
identification of Jesus Christ with and as the sun (above
video), as they should
be, since the coming messiah is specifically called "Sun of
Righteousness" in the Old Testament book just before the Gospel of
Matthew, Malachi (4:2).

Rather than representing the birthday of a
human savior of a particular ethnicity and creed, this time of the
year constitutes the "birth," "rebirth" or "resurrection" of
Sol Invictus, the "Unconquered Sun," whose annual journey across our sky
can be celebrated worldwide as a truly unifying expression of our
global family.

For the past nearly 1,700 years, a
significant portion of the Western world has celebrated the day of
December 25th as the birth of the divine Son of God and Savior JesusChrist.

Thousands of images have been created,
as well as songs, poems and other artistic endeavors, depicting the
baby Jesus lying in a manger surrounded by ox and lamb, with the
Virgin Mary, Joseph, angels and three Wise Men looking on in wonder
at the luminous infant.

This imagery, we are told, represents the
very first Christmas, when the Lord of the Universe was born on this
earth, on the 25th day of December in the year 1 AD/CE. But is this
story true?

"O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that
Sun was born...Christ should be born."

The tradition of "Christmas" or December 25th as the birth of JesusChrist, the main figure of the New Testament who is believed by
nearly two billion Christians worldwide to have been God in the
flesh come to save mankind from its sins, is traceable to the late
second to third century AD/CE.

During that time, the Church father
Cyprian (d. 258) remarked (De pasch. Comp., xix):

"O, how
wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was
born...Christ should be born."

In other words, the Savior's birth
was being observed at the winter solstice.

What is seldom known,
however, is that prior to that time, Christ's birth was placed on a
variety of days, indicating its non-historicity:

January 5th

January 6th

March 25th

March 28th

April 19th

April
20th

May 20th

August 21st

November 17th

November 19th

Title page of the 'Chronography of 354'

MS c. 1620

December 25th as
Christ's birthday makes its way into a "calendar" or chronology
created in 354 AD/CE called the Calendar of Filocalus or Philocalian
Calendar.

In addition to listing the 25th of December as the Natalis
Invicti, which means "Birth of the Unconquered (Sun)," the Calendar
also names the day as that of natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae:
"Birth of Christ in Bethlehem Judea."

Hence, we can see that people
of the fourth century were clearly aware of the association, if not
identification, of Christ with the sun, as they had been in
Cyprian's time and earlier, since Jesus is
claimed to be the "Sun of Righteousness"
in the Old Testament book of Malachi (4:2).

"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise
with healing in his wings."

Over the past few decades, many people have come to understand that
"December 25th" represents not the birthday of a "historical" savior
named JesusChrist but the time of the winter solstice in the
northern hemisphere, when the day begins to become longer than the
night, and the sun is said to be "born again," "renewed" or
"resurrected."

Numerous Winter-Solstice Celebrations Globally

By the time Jesus' birth was placed at the winter solstice there
had been numerous solstitial celebrations of the coming "new sun" in
a wide variety of places. Many winter-solstice festivals can be
found listed in
2010 Astrotheology Calendar, for the month of
December.

As I write there:

December is full of winter-solstice celebrations beginning in
remotest antiquity. For example, the date of December 21st as the
festival of the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu represents her
"coming out of the cave," a typical solar myth.

Likewise noteworthy is the festival of the Egyptian baby sun god
Sokar occurring on 26 Khoiak (below image), as related in the
Calendar of Hathor
at Dendera, corresponding at the turn of the common era to December
22nd.

The longstanding ritual of Sokar being carried out of the
temple on this day in an "ark" closely resembles the censored
commentary by Church father Epiphanius (c. 310/320-403) concerning
the Egyptians bringing forth the baby sun born of a virgin at the
winter solstice.

Sokar the baby sun at the Winter Solstice

approached by three
dignitaries,

Ptah-Osiris-Sokar

The winter-solstice celebrations were so important that at times
they exceeded the one or two days of the actual solstice in the
Gregorian calendar, i.e., December 21st or 22nd.

Solstice
celebrations therefore do not necessarily fall on the traditional
time of the solstice but may occur up to several days before or
after, such as is exemplified by the Roman celebration of
Saturnalia, which began on December 17th and ended on the 23rd.

Hence, a "winter solstice" birth as asserted for a number of gods
would not necessarily be celebrated on those exact days or even on
the more commonly accepted date of December 25th, which signifies
the end of a three-day period of the solstice - meaning "sun stands
still" - as perceived in ancient times.

In this regard, the
winter-solstice birthday of the Greek sun and wine god Dionysus was
originally recognized in early January but was eventually placed on
December 25th, as related by the ancient Latin writer Macrobius (4th
cent. ad/ce).

Regardless, the effect is the same:

The winter sun god
is born around this time, when the day begins to become longer than
the night.

Nativity of Dionysus

Hermes presents the baby Dionysus to a goddess
or mortal woman;

two groups of three figures are in attendance on
either side;

bas relief from the Museum of Naples

In 275 ad/ce, December 25th was formalized by Emperor Aurelian as
the birthday of Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun, and it is claimed
that Aurelian likewise combined the Greek festival of the sun god
Helios, called the Helia, with Saturnalia as well to establish this
solstice celebration.

The highly important Mysteries of Osiris,
which begin on the 14th of December and end with his resurrection on
December 26th, follow a winter-solstice pattern similar to the Brumalia, Saturnalia and Christmas celebrations.

The facts that this
period comprises several festivities having to do with the passion,
death and resurrection or rebirth of this prominent Egyptian sun
god, and that the dates for these mysteries happened to correspond
to the winter solstice when the wandering Egyptian Calendar was
finally fixed, are extraordinary.

How Far Back Do Winter-Solstice Celebrations Go?
In "2011 Astrotheology Calendar," the month of December is illustrated by
the "passage tomb" at Newgrange, Ireland, which is oriented to the
sunrise on the winter solstice or around December 21st in the
Gregorian calendar.

Newgrange Passage Tomb/Temple, Ireland

photo: Clemensfranz

This tomb - which has also been called a "temple"
based on its evident importance - is guarded by a large boulder with
spiral solar symbols and dates to around 3200 BCE.

The
winter-solstice sunrise at Newgrange sends a shaft of light down the
cruciform corridor and chamber.

This ceremony is believed to signify
the "return to life" or resurrection from the death of winter. In
this sacred site is thus a 5,000-year-old "cross of light"
representing the resurrection to life or rebirth on "December 25th."

"In the sacred site at Newgrange is a 5,000-year-old 'cross of
light' representing the resurrection to life and rebirth on
'December 25th.'"

There are many other archaeological sites globally that are
astronomically aligned, particularly to the winter solstice, some
even older than
Newgrange, such as the wooden circle or "henge" at Goseck, Germany,
which may be 7,000 years old.

Goseck circle, Germany; yellow lines

represent sunrise and
sunset at the winter solstice

c. 7,000 years ago

The building of such astronomically
aligned edifices, which are widely understood to be "temples" of a
sort, indicates that the ancient astrotheological motif of the sun
god's birth at the winter solstice is at least that old.

Moreover,
there is evidence that this solar observation is much older even
than that.

The suggestion that the winter-solstice celebration by human beings
in several parts of the world, particularly in the farther northern
reaches of the northern hemisphere, dates back to Paleolithic times
and was part of religious "mysteries" even then is indicated by a
number of artifacts, including the painting known as "Sorcerer with
the Antelope's Head" from
Les Trois Freres caves in the French
Pyrenees.

Sorcerer with Antelope's Head

Les Trois Freres Cave

As I write in Suns of God, these caves were occupied
during the Magdalenian period, 10,000-16,000 years ago, although
mythologist Robert Graves dates the paintings therein to "at least
20,000 B.C."

In
Prehistoric Lunar Astronomy, Indian scholar
S.B. Roy theorizes
that these paintings are representative of secret deposits relating
to the mysteries, remarking that they would "necessarily be
performed at a particular auspicious moment," upon which their
potency would depend.

This auspicious moment would be dependent on
the solar and lunar phases, as well as the seasons.

As I also relate
in Suns of God, Roy further posits that the antelope-headed
"sorcerer" was "a figure marking the onset of a season."

The reasons
for this assertion include that the "remote traditions" in the Rig
Veda and in Vedic astronomy relate that the Stag's head represents
the star L-Orionis and the winter solstice at the new moon, as well
as the summer solstice at the full moon.

Roy concludes that the
sorcerer figure "marked the winter solstice," which was "a great day
in the Ice Age of Europe." Based on the astronomy, the figure dates
to 10,600 BCE.

In Northern Europe and Asia, in latitudes of 60º and higher, where
Slavonic languages now prevail, the winter was then long and dark.
It was very cold. Everyone looked to the day of the winter solstice
when the sun would turn North. The astronomers would know the date
even though the sun itself was not visible. This was the great day,
for the spring would now come.

Thus, the winter solstice was an important factor in human culture,
particularly that of the cold, northern latitudes, at least 12,000
years ago.

"'Christmas' is thus an extremely ancient celebration, predating the
Christian era by many millennia."

The winter solstice celebration that developed throughout much of
the inhabited world has been handed down as "Christmas," i.e.,
December 25th, the birthday of the "sun of God."

"Christmas" is thus
an extremely ancient celebration, predating the Christian era by
many millennia...